


A Month To Themselves

by msgeniuspa



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Autumnal Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Frenemies Bucky Barnes & Sam Wilson, M/M, MCU-divergent in that the heat isn't actively looking for Sam/Steve/Bucky, Multi, Natasha Is a Good Bro, October Prompt, Steve Rogers Cooks, seasonal fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2019-01-08 01:03:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12244080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/msgeniuspa/pseuds/msgeniuspa
Summary: Steve, Sam, Bucky, and Natasha spend quality time together preparing for Halloween.  A 31-day October prompt list molded into a chapter fic.





	1. Caramel Apples

1 October 2017  
Bethesda, MD  
19:15

* * *

 

“C’mon, Buck,” Steve laughed, bumping Bucky aside from the stove with his hip. “I can make the caramel. You get the skewers in the apples.”

The dark-haired man huffed in exasperation and threw his hands up dramatically in surrender as Steve took the wooden spoon and sauce pan handle out of his hands. “Oh, please forgive me for thinking we were going to do this like we used to.”

Steve smiled warmly down at the bubbling pot of sugar and cream. “I’m just glad I can make this for you now.” He looked over his shoulder to where Natasha and Sam were sitting at the kitchen island, watching the show. “Back before the war, Bucky always made the caramel because I literally couldn’t stand and stir the pot for a half hour.”

“I’ve still got the advantage,” Bucky retorted, elbowing Steve, “bionic arm and all.”

Sam shot Bucky a look that said he better watch himself and said, probably with a little more edge than intended, “Well, Steve did a great job last year without-”

He was cut off by a mini marshmallow hitting his nose. Natasha grinned broadly, popping another marshmallow into her mouth. “They were great last year.” She reached her hand out for Bucky’s, pulling him towards her to kiss the back of it. “I’m glad I get to try the original recipe this year.”

Bucky wrapped his arms around her from behind her counter stool and she nuzzled into his neck, looking deceivingly girl-next-door with her red hair pulled back in a messy bun, and the sleeves of her toasted brown heavy knit sweater still sliding to the ends of her fingers, even with the ends cuffed back. Bucky peered up to smirk at Sam. Sam retaliated by picking the marshmallow up off the counter and throwing it at Bucky’s face, but Bucky caught it in his mouth, looking more smug than ever.

“Is that supposed to impress me? My mom’s dog can catch treats, too.”

“Behave, kids,” Steve teased from the stove, “or you can go to bed after dinner without dessert.”

Sam got up and went to the fridge for a hard cider. “Speaking of, who’s staying over?” It was, after all, his kitchen, since he was the only one with a decent place. Steve liked the minimalism of a studio apartment with barely room for a bed and a hot plate. Bucky technically lived in Wakanda, still, but he tended to drift into town with Natasha when she was home from work.

“You know I’m staying over,” Steve smiled, his voice sweet, but his eyes hot.

Bucky frowned. “I want to stay with Steve and Natasha. We all three haven’t been together for six months.”

Sam sipped his cider benignly and moved to lounged against the counter next to the stove. “Steve can stay in my bed with me.” He reached and turned Steve’s head into a kiss, soft and gentle, but lingering and possessive. Then he turned back to Bucky. “Nat’s welcome to the spare room. And I can probably find an extra blanket for the couch for you.”

“Oh, how generous of you,” Natasha said, her voice dripping with affected gratitude. “And to take a guess, breakfast tomorrow is steak and eggs for Steve, pancakes for me, and gas station muffin for Bucky?”

“Yeah, but a flax muffin. I’m not buying you a blueberry muffin.”

“How about,” Steve interjected, still smiling, but his voice firmer, “we lay out a cushion and blanket pit in the living room and all sleep there? We can eat these apples with hot chocolate and start in on the horror movie stack Sam and Nat have been putting together. Sam, you’ll be on one side of me, Bucky on the other. You don’t have to cuddle each other if you don’t want, and we all get to have fun together.”

Sam and Bucky both opened their mouths to argue, but Natasha cut in before them. “That sounds perfect,” she agreed, her voice carrying the same smiling firmness as Steve’s.

Bucky sighed, and looked at Sam. “I don’t know where they learned how to do that school teacher suggestion-that’s-really-an-order,” he admitted.

“It’s an Avengers thing,” Sam grumbled. “Do you want a cider?”

“Yeah, thanks, man.”


	2. Shopping

2 October 2017

Edgewater, MD

12:50

 

Bucky still didn’t like supermarkets. He remembered going all the way to Queens to see the first King Kullen when it opened. He didn’t like it then, and he didn’t like it now. Too big, too many choices, too impersonal. But that was exactly why Natasha had picked here. Things had been quiet for Captain America and the Winter Soldier, but they didn’t want to push their limits by brushing elbows with congressmen at a DC farmer’s market.

“They’re right here, Tash,” he called from the entryway of the Safeway, just beyond the automatic doors. Several boxes of pumpkins. Thank god.

Natasha kept walking away as she turned back to him. “We need carving kits, too,” she smiled as it that was obvious.

“...We can’t just use knives and spoons?”

He must’ve had his ‘confused puppy face’ on, as Natasha called it, because she smirked and said, “C’mon, boy, I’ll get you a treat if you’re good.”

Bucky sighed, and stuffed his metal hand further into his hoodie pocket as he caught up to her.

She was skimming her hands along the displays of each aisle, tapping every pumpkin spice product she passed. “It’s coming~” she singsonged, her eyes bright.

Bucky couldn’t help but gaze down at her fondly. They’d been through so much, separated and together, it seemed surreal that they were now here just… walking through a grocery store… shopping.

She seemed to read his mind, because for a moment, she looked away from the shelves and up into his eyes, beaming. She stood on her tip toes, and he met her halfway for a light kiss as she twined her arm through the crook in his metal arm, giving him another peck on the shoulder, as she lowered herself.

“So where do we find carving kits?” Bucky asked, unable to keep a smile off his face.

“The seasonal aisle,” Natasha announced, stopping like an anchor so he pivoted around her.

And wasn’t that a sight? Shelves and shelves of orange, black, and purple. Skeletons, spiders, and black cats. Candy in as many shapes sizes and colors as Bucky could imagine. (Well, actually, primarily three colors – orange, black, and purple.)

Natasha started down the aisle confidently, her eyes scanning quickly in a way that said she was very familiar with the shape for which she was looking. And sure enough, nearly at the end of the aisle, several pattern books with kitschy plastic tools shaped like pumpkins themselves held to the front in a plastic mold. “We don’t need four books of patterns,” Natasha mused, “but it wouldn’t hurt to have four sets of tools.”

“Well, lucky for you, it looks like there are three different books. We’ll get advanced difficulty for you, two intermediates for me and Steve, and beginner for Sam.”

“You’re bad,” Natasha laughed. She turned and wrapped her arms around Bucky’s neck, going up on her toes again.

Bucky smirked and wrapped his right arm around her lower back and pulled her closer to him, but just before their lips met, she stopped and bumped his nose with hers. “I wish you would try harder to be Sam’s friend. He’s a great guy. At the very least, he’s a dear friend of mine, so do it for me?”

Bucky sighed and kissed her forehead. “I’ll try if he does.”

“Thank you.”

“Do I get a treat for this, too?” he smirked playfully.

“I don’t know,” Natasha teased. “I was going to get you a chocolate bar for braving the supermarket, but what did you have in mind for being a mature adult?”

Bucky’s hand drifted down to her backside. “Probably something of a more mature and adult nature.”

Like smoke, Natasha was out of his arms and had spun away, holding his hand like a ballroom dancer. “That’s a big treat, so you better earn it, babe.” She kissed the back of his hand and sauntered back to his side. “Here, get four intermediate books. I’ll run back and get the pumpkins and meet you at the registers.”

Bucky squeezed her hand and let her go. “Rendezvous at the cashier in em-minus-five minutes.”

“See you on the other side~”


End file.
